Living Death
by Moon Faery
Summary: Revised (1+2, yaoi, death, blood, teeny angst, language) Duo is hurt, possibly dead, and Heero gets himself in a situation trying to get revenge.


Living Death 1/1  
Rating: pg  
Series: Gundam Wing  
Genre: General  
Pairings: 1+2  
Spoilers: I dunno. Maybe?  
Warnings: Death, blood, weird things, mild language, Shounen Ai.  
By Moon Faery

Disclaimer: A statement created solely to save one's ass from becoming lawn for the proverbial legal mower. I do not own the characters of Gundam Wing, nor does anyone I know own them. However, this story line and plot are MINE. (Holds fic close to her.) Grrrr....

Author's Notes: I had to fix this thing. There was one part that just... (shudder) Came across as awful. So I fixed it. ^^ Tell me what you think!

***

Heero dashed after the man, pulling his Beretta from its shoulder holster under his jacket. His eyes were dark with rage, almost black as he kept a mental target-lock on the object of his hatred. The man ducked in and out of the crowd, keeping plenty of innocents between himself and the enraged Preventer. Heero gritted his teeth and kept after the suspect, dodging little old ladies and children without hesitation.

His com-link buzzed. "Preventer Storm, cease pursuit!" Wufei's voice crackled in his ear. "Repeat, cease pursuit! We've got a tracker on him! Heero! Answer me, damn it! Hee-" Heero casually reached up and pulled off his earphone, crushing it without even slowing his steps.

The man was beginning to visibly panic. Suddenly, he swerved into an alley, knocking over garbage cans. Heero easily leaped over the obstacles. Something cracked trough the air twice, shattering it like crystal. Heero's body jerked in midair, then crashed to the asphalt, unmoving.

***

"Nice to see you again, Heero. This time, I'm afraid, there's no escaping."

The fallen Preventor would have responded, bot for some reason he couldn't find his breath.

"Now, that was stupid, getting yourself killed for someone you haven't even told how you feel," the voice continued conversationally in a dark, husky tone. It sounded scarily familiar, but he couldn't pinpoint where he had heard it before. "However, I do have to give you points for retaining consciousness through death."

Heero groaned, trying to push himself to his feet. Every muscle in his body hurt, and the world was a lightless, heatless void. "Where am I?" he rasped out, voice hoarser and more nasal than usual.

"Take a wild guess, Soldier boy," the unknown person told him sarcastically. "You're dead, what else does a bullet through the heart mean?" It chuckled evilly, the sound lacked humor.

"DUO!" His energy seemed to surge back, flowing from some point in his chest. He jumped to his feet, eyes doing their best to pierce the darkness, unsuccessfully. "Where's Duo?"

"Don't worry, he's alive and as well as he can be with a bullet through the shoulder," the person laughed. "Unlike some people I could name."

"Hn." Heero tried harder to see who it was, but he couldn't see anything in the complete lack of light. "Who are you?"

It chuckled again, sending a cold shiver down Heero's spine. "I believe the word in your native tongue is 'Shinigami'. Most just call me Death, though."

'Death... The God of Death.' Something clicked. He recognized the voice. "Duo, if this is another one of your God damned pranks..!"

"I'm not Duo." This time, the voice was quiet, resonating with an aching weariness. "Not quite. Not yet."

"Why am I here?"

"I told you. You're dead. I'm Death. There's not that much to figure out."

Heero growled. "Will you at least turn on a light?"

Death 'hmm'ed to itself. "I usually wouldn't, but this is an odd occasion. Why not?" The world lightened to gray. In the sourceless illumination, Heero found himself standing on absolutely nothing. That wasn't what bothered him.

Death was standing before him in black jeans and a black priests' shirt. He wore knee high boots and a silver, jeweled sickle was hanging from a chain around his neck. Waving gently in an unfelt breeze behind him was a mahogany braid that almost brushed the ground.

Old, tired plum colored eyes stared back into his own blue ones, a tiny smile twisting Death's pale lips bitterly. It was Duo, in every detail. More correctly, it was how Duo would look in ten years. Everything but the eyes. Heero could never imagine his Duo looking so sick of the world, so dead.

"So, you like my deep dark secret?" Death asked him, leaning back against an invisible wall, a self-mocking smirk making a mockery of the beautiful face it wore.

"You- Why do you look like Duo?" the dead Gundam pilot demanded, clenching his fists unconsciously as he stared into the dying eyes of something that looked like his love.

"Why..." Death closed his eyes. "I don't think you need to know that." His eyes snapped open, driving straight through Heero like a nail.

"Yes, I do." It was almost a growl.

"Why? You're dead, it won't do you any good." His faded purple eyes traced the Preventer's jean-clad form up and down slowly, assessingly. "It is a shame, though. You two could have done such great things together." He sighed woefully, like the wind blowing through the dead branches in winter. "Ah, well, only a few more years, I suppose."

Heero jumped on the comment. "What do you mean by that?"

Death eyed him again, seeming to come to a decision. He nodded to himself. "In a few years, I'll be done with my job, and you and Duo will have eternity together." His smile was wistful. "Maybe he'll be happier with it than I am. I can't wait." He raised an eyebrow at Heero's uncomprehending stare. "I plan on making Duo my successor."

"You'll kill him." His voice was a flat monotone that hid the chaotic ramble of emotions running through him.

"Not quite. He'll never die physically, if that's what you mean." Death tapped his chest meaningfully. "His soul, though..." His eyes were empty. "It's a lonely job, Heero, and no one can do it forever."

"So you put an innocent in your own Hell so that you can escape it?" Heero snarled at the force of nature.

"Yes." Death's eyes glittered in the faint illumination. "It takes life to be Death, and I'm running out of mine. If I don't get away soon, I'll go insane. And a crazy Death is worse than you could imagine." The braid snapped through the air like a whip as he shook his head. "It's the sort of thing that makes plauges occur. Duo is the only choice I have."

"Take me."

The silence stretched. "You don't know what you're asking."

The former pilot of Wing snorted. "So? I'd rather it be me than Duo." His eyes were hard as he stared down Death. "I can accomplish any mission I set my mind to."

The god looked away first, eyes lowering to study the toes of his boots. "You really do love him, don't you?"

"Yes, I do." He felt the old confusion and terror brought on by his feelings for Duo threatening to overwhelm him, but he stood his ground.

"You haven't told him."

"I was an idiot."

"You may be right about that." Suddenly, Death laughed. "It's going to break every rule I know, but what the Hell. This may actually work." He pushed away from the wall, slowly circling around the dead pilot. The circles kept getting smaller and smaller, until he was brushing closely against Heero, pale pink lips whispering in his ear. Around them, the grayness began glowing with a deep indigo fire.

"There are three questions, and three answers, that will let a person exsist forever," the not-Duo whispered. "If you know them, that is."

Heero crossed his arms, refusing to be intimidated. "Then tell them to me."

There was a long pause, broken by the ghost of a laugh. "You have spunk. I'm really very sorry about this, you know."

Before Heero could ask about that, Death whirled around and slammed a fist into his face, sending him crashing to the nothing that was masquerading as the ground. He crouched over the Preventor's fallen form, holding up a knife and contemplating it.

"You do realize, of course, that if you can't find the questions, you'll cease to exsist?" he asked slowly. "Last chance to back out."

"Just do whatever you have to do."

Death shrugged, then grinned manically, looking more animated than Heero had seen him before. "I warned you." Without more than a moments hesitation, he plunged the dagger through Heero's chest and kept going, until the God's black-clad arm was sunk into him up to the elbow. Heero screamed.

It was like something was disolving him from the inside out, slowly, taking an eternity to erase each cell before moving onto the next. As it moved farther into his being, it left nothing behind, not even pain, and that was more painful than anything else Heero had ever felt.

The oddly-colored eyes abover him studied their owners handiwork clinically. "You have a few minutes before it becomes irreversible," Death told him. "If you can find the questions before then, you'll take my place."

Finding the strength to speak, Heero croaked, "What questions..?"

"Oh, come on now," Death chided, taping his visible fingers on Heero's slowly fading chest. "You already know one of them; everyone who's living does."

Heero wracked through his brain, seizing the faint clue and dredging up anything that might relate. "Wha- What i-is the... Secret of life?" he choked, hoping that there wasn't a penalty for getting it wrong.

"Good boy! I'd clap, but one of my hands is occupied." The long-haired God patted his cheek insultingly. "Now what's the answer? You know this one too, if you'll just think hard enough."

Heero's life - and death - were starting to push at his brain, distracting him from answering. As he fought back the odd flashbacks, he realized something was strange. There were no memories of what happened before Operation Meteor, when he finally started to live for himself instead of others. The feeling of non-existence had spread out to his ribcage before he managed to groan, "LIVING!"

Immediately, there was a decrease in the spread of the affliction. Heero gasped desperately at air that wasn't there as it slowed down.

"Now was that so hard?" Heero managed to work up a glare for the God. Death only flicked his nose. "Stop that; I'm the only help you've got. Next question, and here's a hint because I like you. They're all related."

Preventor Storm found himself actually wondering if he could kill the God of Death. The man seemed to take way too much pleasure in teasing Heero; much like the boy who's form he wore.

However, he had just given Heero the vital clue. He used to play word association games like this when he was bored, and one answer always lead to the next question. "What is the secret of living?" he gasped, feeling immediate relief as the nothing-ness slowed a little more. And the word "living" was one he always associated, after the war, with two things. Duo and...

"LOVE!"

The creeping pain stopped completely, buring uncertainly in one place, as if curious about how close he could get to the final question. But he was already there. "What is the secret-" he was cut off as it ripped through him again, sending shockwaves of pain and non-existence through him.

"Now, now," Death chuckled. "You didn't think the last bit would be easier than the first, did you?" His arm flexed, moving the dagger deeper into the gaping hole that used to be Heero's chest. Heero screamed again as the mixture of pain and nothing-ness crept down to his legs. "Time's almost up! SAY IT!"

Heero fought back the dizzying wave of pain, reminding himself of the stakes he was playing for. "Wh-aaat iissss the secret of- LOVE?!" The last word came out as an ear-piercng wail that was choked off as his throat started to vanish at the base.

"You're almost out of time," Death hissed, twisting the knife again. "SAY IT!

The sudden pain gave Heero the energy to whisper the answer. "Life..."

Everything stopped. The pain and the feeling of non-existence were suddenly gone. Even the gray illumination vanished, leaving Heero and Death hovering in limbo.

Death hovered over Heero's prone form, seemingly frozen in place. "You did it." He smiled genuinely, tears starting at the corners of his eyes and down his cheeks. "Thank you." Leaning down, he gave Heero a slow kiss, parting the Japanese boy's lips with his tongue and caressing the inside of his mouth. Inspite of himself, Heero kissed back, shuddering from some unnamed feeling as Death broke the kiss. "Thank you." The God kissed him again. Slowly, Death began to dissolve, fading into limbo, leaving Heero staring blankly at the place he used to be.

And then, even limbo vanished.

***

"Heero!" Someone was shaking his shoulder. "Heero, wake up!" Heero shook his head, sitting him. Quatre threw himself at the other boy in a hug.

"What happened out there?" the tiny blonde asked him, not loosening his hold.

"The suspect?" Heero's blue eyes were narrowed slightly in the afternoon sunlight.

"Dead. Cause unknown," the little Winner heir answered automatically, jerking his chin at the body bag that was being handled by the local authorities. "We showed up on the scene, and you were dead, shot through the heart. The suspect was out cold. There was blood all over the place. And then you started breathing again and he just... died." Quatre's eyes darkened.

"I was shot?"

Trowa came over, kneeling beside the other two agents. His green eyes were troubled beneath the long lock of his bang. "Was. You were as dead as you could be, and then the damned bullet wound just vanished and you came back to us."

The Preventers agent known as Storm nodded. "Where's Duo?"

"St. Yuy regional." The tall former circus star eyed his old comrade in arms and fellow rebel. "Heero, is there something you're not telling us?"

"Yes." Heero stood, taking the time to wring a little blood out of his shirt, fingering the hole over his heart. "Let's go see Duo."

***

Duo tried to push himself to a sitting position when Heero walked into the room, but winced and settled back to the bed. His long, unbraided hair flowed around him like a blanket, falling off the bed in a waterfall of silk to brush the floor. "Hey, man!"

He took a seat next to the head of the hospital bed, blue eyes half-lidded as he observed his injured partner. "I thought you were dead."

The pilot from L2 grinned cheekily, tossing his head to get his bangs out of his eyes. "Hey, you know me! Death can't die and all that shit."

Heero grinned a little, mostly to himself. "No, he can't die, can he?" he asked the air softly, eyes taking on a strange glint.

"Heero?" Duo asked, looking at him strangely, concerned. His eyes sparkled from behind the worry, dancing with life.

Indigo eyes locked onto Duo's slender form, silently tracing the lines of it under the thin hospital sheet. "Don't worry about it, Duo," he finally answered, eyes far away. "If Death can't die, then neither can you." He leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to Duo's forehead before standing and striding out of the room.

'For you, Duo-love. All for you.'

Duo watched him go with wide eyes. "Heero..."

***OWARI*** 


End file.
